privileTaking the out of
ge
Chris Heilmann (@codepo8) January 2018

Dina Amin
dinaamin.com
Beyond Tellerand Munich 2018
Feeling privileged is incredibly
empowering.

We enjoy quite a lot
of privilege.

Our privilege
(YMMV)
Fast web access across form
factors

Our privilege
(YMMV)
Kick-ass hardware

Our privilege
(YMMV)
Ridiculous scale
oldmanyellsat.cloud

Our privilege
(YMMV)
High demand in the job world
twitter.com/mattrickard/status/941065444919840769

Our privilege
(YMMV)
Open source tooling

Our privilege
(YMMV)
Platforms with open feedback
channels

Our privilege
(YMMV)
A high tolerance for doing
things not by the book

We also have a lot of
trouble to deal with

Our home-made troubles
blog.decodedshow.com/2017/10/13/decoded-chats-jason-lengstorf-on-work-and-life-balance/
github.com/jlengstorf/presentations/tree/master/work-life-balance
× Peer pressure and
unhealthy work attitude

Our home-made troubles × The burden of insight

Our home-made troubles × The “not invented here”
problem
twitter.com/mattrickard/status/941065444919840769

Our home-made troubles × Lack of real recognition

Our home-made troubles × Impostor syndrome
bigmachine.io/products/the-imposters-handbook/
blog.decodedshow.com/2016/10/18/decoded-chats-rob-conery-on-learning-coding-and-being-an-imposter/

Our home-made troubles × Lack of patience when it
comes to change

Perceptions are skewed
in every direction

We have weird
perceptions of what
people are like

Our perception
problems
(inside out)
∞ Things would be perfect if
people updated more

Our perception
problems
(inside out)
∞ People don’t listen enough
to experts – like us

Our perception
problems
(inside out)
∞ People are lazy and should
try to understand more

Our perception
problems
(inside out)
∞ Everything we didn’t do is
terrible

Fueled by mainstream
media, the perception of
us is also not good…

Our perception
problems
(outside in)
ↆ We destroy everything
people worked for
ft.com/content/dec677c0-b7e6-11e6-ba85-95d1533d9a62

Our perception
problems
(outside in)
ↆ We build things only we
can understand
smarties2013.wordpress.com/2013/04/27/the-importance-of-a-well-designed-user-interface-figure/

Our perception
problems
(outside in)
ↆ We don’t care for people’s
privacy or feelings
techcrunch.com/2016/04/21/uk-report-finds-rising-digital-privacy-concerns/

Our perception
problems
(outside in)
ↆ We control the media and
cause horrible politics
theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/03/silicon-valley-politics-lobbying-washington

Our perception
problems
(outside in)
ↆ We’re antisocial and
sociopaths
amazon.com/Brotopia-Breaking-Boys-Silicon-Valley/dp/0735213534

So…
we are vile people,
who have everything,
work for people who don’t
appreciate us,
building products for people who
don’t deserve them...

Fuck, that’s
depressing…

Let’s break that
cycle…

Each of us in their
own way, taking
little steps…

First of all, let’s chill:
You can’t make
everybody happy.
You are not pizza.

Let’s be good to ourselves…
Sleep more Eat better Move more Take breaks Pet animals

Work in optimized surroundings
Effective
tools
Fewer
distractions
Up-to-date and
clean products
VMs and
containers

Considering the needs of others
Creating
performant
products
Keeping
language
simple
Automating
setups
Inclusive
design
Making no
technical
assumptions

Playing well with others
Clear beats
clever in
production
Commenting
our work
Writing
excellent
examples
Creating clean,
high quality
assets
Documenting
our products
and work

Conserving energy and focusing your attention.
Not every
discussion
needs us
OK to miss
out on some
new hotness
Tech news is
not better than
mainstream

Seeking out and celebrating little wins.
Closing
bugs
Helping with
bug fixing the
way you can
Finding
inspiration and
giving thanks

Sharing what you know and what you
know to avoid.
Writing
about failure
Explain what
problems your
solution prevents
Help others
stay safe (2FA)

Sharing opportunities and
knowing when to say no.
Beginner
bugs
Finding more
exciting
replacements
Calling out bad
behaviour
Sharing talent
you spotted

Never forgetting the importance
of playing.
Build silly
things
Try out
something new
Break things in
creative ways
Share things
that made you
happy

Big changes start
with small, but
deliberate decisions

Doing something
good even without
an immediate effect
can feel great.

Let’s use our
privilege to enable
others and great
things will happen.

Thanks!
Chris Heilmann
@codepo8